This project is concerned with comparative studies on the mammalian nervous system, with particular interest on the auditory and visual systems. The project has a multidisciplinary methodological approach in which biophysical, electrophysiological, anatomical and behavioral techniques are employed. The auditory group is mainly interested in the analysis of electrical activity recorded at several levels of the auditory pathway, from ganglion cells to cerebral cortex. Recently their field of research has been extended to include studies on the mechanical aspects of the transduction process in the cochlea. The visual group is concerned mainly with the visual system of the rat. A unitary analysis of striate and peristriate cells of the cortex has been carried out. They have extended their research to efferents projections of striate into peristriate areas as well as those of the medical peristriate cortex in particular. The behavioral studies are connected with the behavioral analysis of striate and peristriate cortex of the rat. Another line concerns the neocortical functions on time behavior in the rat. The fourth area of research deals with anatomical studies referring $ to the histogenesis of the nervous system of the rabbit using autoradiographic techniques.